Darfur

Help cannot come soon enough.


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In February, Bush became the first world leader to publicly call for an end to the violence in Darfur. In April, the United States pushed for a strong resolution at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights condemning the vicious fighting in Darfur and demanding it end. During the summer, the United States sent more than $200 million of aid to help the desperate Sudan refugees and pushed for strong U.N. Security Council action.
Unfortunately, the strong language the United States proposed for U.N. resolutions repeatedly has been watered down and, consequently, there has been minimal impact on the ground. The U.N. envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, recently reported that the violence and insecurity in Darfur have increased and that "Darfur may easily enter a state of anarchy."

This month, however, the United States serves as president of the U.N. Security Council, and Bush and Danforth, now U.S. ambassador to the U.N., are making a historic diplomatic step to advance peace in Sudan.

For the first time in more than 30 years, the U.N. Security Council will meet outside its headquarters in New York City.

Ambassador Danforth is taking the U.N. Security Council to meet Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya, to address the growing crisis in Sudan. This will focus world attention on the situation. It will increase pressure on other Security Council members to be forward-leaning on this subject. And this heightened pressure, hopefully, can help lead Sudan to a sustainable peace.

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